


Nachtmahr

by Sermocinare



Category: Silent Hill, Watchmen (2009)
Genre: Body Horror, Crossover, Gen, Gore, Horror, Psychological Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-20
Updated: 2011-03-20
Packaged: 2017-10-17 03:53:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/172625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sermocinare/pseuds/Sermocinare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After receiving part of Rorschach's journal, Adrian starts dreaming of the same place every night until he finally gives in and follows the call of his dreams to a town called Silent Hill.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Adrian pulled the car over, letting it roll out on the gravely shoulder on the side of the road. Five years. It had been five years, almost to the day, since he had pushed the button. Five years of peace and prosperity for all of humanity, and he was finally giving himself tentative permission to believe in the utopia he had created. Five years of working behind the scenes, of managing rebuilding programs, charities, initiatives. Adrian rubbed the bridge of his nose wearily, then turned his gaze on the road again. The sun was beginning to set, and a fog was rolling in from the lake, wrapping the area where the town should be in a dull white shroud.

He didn't have time for this. Adrian shot a glance at the slim, leather-bound volume lying on the seat next to him. It had arrived by mail some two months ago, a journal filled with jumbled chicken-scratch writing that was half code, half paranoid mess. Rorschach's journal. Or at least that was what it purported to be. Adrian wasn't quite sure he believed it. What he was sure of, though, was the fact that the last few pages of the journal were missing. Everything that mentioned his scheme, any hint of it had been torn out. Along with the journal had come a note, written in the same almost unintelligible handwriting. It had simply said: "Everyone must pay a price".

Of course, the first thing that had come to Adrian's mind was extortion. Someone was trying to blackmail him into paying a hefty sum of money for the rest, the important parts, of the so-called journal of the former vigilante Rorschach. Adrian had waited for a second letter to arrive, but there had been none. Just as he was about to forget the whole thing, to put it off as some sick joke, possibly by one of his former masked associates, the dreams had started.

Every night since then, he had been dreaming of the same town. He was sure he had never been there before, but still the dreams were filled with such vivid detail as if he had been standing right in the middle of it. He had felt the cold asphalt underneath his shoes, heard the creaking of a door swinging on rusty hinges, felt the fog creep underneath his clothes like the fingers of a deathly lover. He had wandered the town every night, meeting no one. Sometimes, he had thought he had seen a shadow, but most nights, he had been alone. And then, without fail, the sirens had started, and Adrian had woken up in his bed, gasping, his body covered by a sheen of cold sweat, unable to remember anything that had come after the blaring wail.

Careful research had led him to this place. It had once been a prosperous mining town, but had since been deserted, its inhabitants having moved on to more prosperous cities, or simply died. Thick clouds were gathering on the horizon, and Adrian shivered slightly, pulling his jacket tighter around his shoulders. It was beginning to get quite cold. There might even be snow. After all, he was high up in the mountains.

Starting the engine of his car, Adrian got back on the road, flicking on the headlights in hopes of penetrating the thickening fog. Ten minutes later, their beam glanced over a sign that was posted at the side of the road, just at the foot of the bridge he had crossed.

"Welcome to Silent Hill"

Once inside, the fog seemed to be less dense than it had looked from where he had stood on the road just minutes before. Still, it was somewhat difficult to see his surroundings. The light was fading away, turning color into shades of gray, and more than half the lights at the side of the road weren’t working any more. Not that this surprised Adrian in the least. After all, the town had been uninhabited for at least ten years now. It was actually more surprising that Silent Hill still seemed to be connected to the electricity grid. Adrian peered out the windshield at the buildings that lined the road more and more frequently now. He had already passed something that seemed to have once been a hotel, but years of neglect had turned what had doubtlessly once been an upper class seaside resort into a dark ruin, nothing but crumbling façade and black, gaping windows.

Adrian was going slowly, trying to see, to pick up something, anything, that would tell him why he was here in the first place. A shadow the size of a large dog moved at the very edge of the pools of light the headlights of his car were throwing into the deepening twilight. Apparently, nature had begun to take back what had once been hers. Adrian couldn’t help but feel a bit silly. Here he was, creeping through an abandoned town in the middle of nowhere at close to nightfall, and all because of a dream. He prided himself of his rational mind, his ability to see things without being distracted and fooled by appearances, expectancies or emotion, but this little outing was far from rational. A book filled with what was mostly just paranoia, dreams, and he had taken off to this place to… do what? Adrian wasn’t sure. All he was sure of was that the dreams had stopped after he had made his decision to pay Silent Hill a visit. Irrational or not, there was no denying that those were indeed interesting coincidences, maybe even more than that.

There was a sign in front of the building to his left. Underneath the glittering moisture of the fog, its face was dirty, the copper lettering covered with green rust.

“Silent Hill Historical Society”

Adrian stalled the car, taking a look at the building. The windows weren’t nailed shut, like he had seen at some other buildings he had passed, and neither was the door. Well, if he wanted to find out what he was doing here, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to find out a bit more about this town. Killing the engine, Adrian then opened the glove compartment to get out a heavy flashlight, flicking it on and off to see if the batteries were still working. They were.

Stepping out of the car, Adrian inhaled the cool, damp air. He could smell the lake, and a faint aroma of fire. Lifting his hand to his shoulder, Adrian let the narrow beam of the flashlight flit over the front of the building. Its wooden paneling was beginning to rot visibly, and the path leading to the front door was almost completely overgrown with wilting, brown weeds.

The sound of his footsteps on the gravel was muted by the fog, but still, in the almost unnatural silence of this place, it was so loud that Adrian caught himself trying to place his feet more carefully to avoid detection. He shook his head, chuckling under his breath. Who was he trying to hide from? There was no one left in this town but him. It seemed that this place was already getting to him, with its rotting buildings and impenetrable fog, like something straight from a cheap horror movie.

“Maybe a cat will jump out at me now,” he muttered to himself, reaching for the handle of the door. Adrian was faintly surprised at finding the door unlocked. He would have expected most of the doors to be barred or at least locked. It was a strange thing to do, if you thought about it for a moment. Locking your house when you never expect to come back to it, and when everything that holds any value to you has already been removed. But humans were creatures of habit, and habit dictated that if you went out, you locked the door behind you.

The Historical Society had obviously once been someone's home before being converted into a semi-public space. The door opened on something that, by its size and layout, could have been a living room. Only now, there was nothing lively about it. Two tables stood there, covered in dust and surrounded by old-fashioned wooden chairs. The wallpaper had begun to peel off the walls in places, sagging downwards and baring glimpses of the stone walls underneath. There was a staircase leading upwards, and two doors, one of them with the word "archive" set on it in copper lettering.

The door to the archive was locked. Adrian turned the handle again, rattling the door in frustration. Leaving the front door unlocked but locking this one, it made no sense. He could, of course, simply break through the door - neither frame nor door looked sturdy enough to withstand a well-aimed kick - but even though no one lived here any more, Adrian shied away from such an act of unprovoked vandalism.

Trying the other door, and finding it locked as well, he then made his way upstairs, the stairs moaning and creaking under his feet as if in protest. The one room that made up the upper floor had probably once been a reading room. There were empty bookshelves on the walls, and two armchairs stood in the middle of the room, looking strangely forlorn in the rapidly darkening gloom. Between them was a small coffee table, and on its grimy surface, the beam of Adrian's flashlight picked out the shape of a book. Curious, Adrian moved closer, looking at the book's cover.

"Silent Hill from Past to Present"

Sitting down in one of the chairs, which sagged a bit underneath his weight, Adrian picked up the book and flipped through it. It seemed to be just what it had said on the cover, a short overview over the history of Silent Hill. The text was accompanied at first by woodcuts, then by photographs showing the town and its inhabitants. One of the photographs, which Adrian dated to about the turn of the century judging by the way the people in it were dressed, caught his eye in particular. The accompanying text identified the sombre and somewhat menacing-looking group as members of "The Order", a cult that had apparently been accused of a number of heinous crimes, including the sacrifice of children, all in the name of awakening an ancient deity to bring forth an age of peace and prosperity for its followers. And, Adrian thought with a smirk, probably also bring forth an age of death and damnation for anyone not following whatever teachings it were that the Order was preaching. Doomsday cults had always had a certain appeal, especially for those at odds with the rest of society. The lost and lonely, and those who thought of themselves as visionaries.

Other than the odd photograph and tidbit of information about the strange and colorful history of the town, there wasn't much of interest in the book. It certainly didn't answer any of Adrian's questions, the main of which still was why he was here in the first place. Why he had dreamed of this town for weeks. Putting the book back on the coffee table, Adrian rose with a small sigh. He should probably venture deeper into the town itself. If someone was waiting for him, or had left something behind for him to find, it would most likely be in a prominent place. Right at the city's center. City hall, maybe, or any other easily recognizable building. Somewhere a slightly confused person who had no idea what they were doing here would turn to first.

Descending the staircase, Adrian threw a last look at the locked door of the archive. If he didn't find anything in the town square or wherever, he could still come back.

The fog was still thick outside as Adrian stepped up to his car. The last tendrils of sunlight that had been fighting their way over the horizon as he had entered the building were now gone, leaving him alone in the foggy darkness that was only occasionally broken by pale pools of artificial light up ahead.

Just as Adrian was reaching for the door of the car, he heard a soft shuffling noise approaching, almost like footsteps. It was coming from somewhere behind, moving up the street unhurried and slowly, accompanied by something that sounded like wheezing breaths. Could it be that there was someone else beside himself in this town?

Turning around, Adrian shone the beam of the flashlight in the direction from which the noise was coming. There was definitely something, no, someone, moving through the fog.

“Hello?” No answer. Adrian called out again: “Excuse me? I seem to...”

What he saw, the shape that peeled itself out of the thick shroud of the fog, made his throat close up, his words shriveling to a croak in his chest. A nightmare made flesh, doubtlessly animated by the hellfire contained within its ribs. It looked as if it were struggling against bonds made of its own flesh and skin, its movements cramped and jerky, its gaping mouth uttering a raspy, breathless scream. And it was coming right at him.

Long forgotten instincts kicking in, Adrian cast about for anything that he could use as a weapon against this horror, wishing that he had, for once, brought a gun. But there was nothing, not even a stone he could have thrown at the monster. Nothing but his car.

Jumping into the driver's seat, Adrian revved the engine into life, stomping down on the accelerator the second he had yanked the shift into reverse. Tires screeching, the car shot backwards, hitting the thing right in the middle of its grotesque body. There was a bump as one of the front tires rolled over it, but Adrian didn't stop to look. Heart racing and teeth clenched tight, he turned the car around and sped down the street towards the bridge, back where he had come from. Whatever the business with the journal or his dreams was, he didn't care any more. The only thing he wanted now was to get out of here.

Remembrance shot through him like lightning, illuminating something that had lain in the dark up until this moment. He had seen that thing before, in his dreams. Not one, but many, surrounding him, moving ever closer, pressing in until he could see nothing but their mutilated bodies, smell nothing but their burnt flesh. It was a being made from nightmares, only he wasn't dreaming any more. He was wide awake.

His thoughts still occupied by the horror he had just seen, Adrian almost missed the street suddenly turning into a dark pit ahead of him, the headlights of his car illuminating nothing but fog and air. Stepping on the breaks as hard as he could, Adrian turned the wheel to the right, causing the car to spin around, tires screaming on the damp asphalt. For a moment, the rear end of the car dipped down, and Adrian's heart stopped. The engine sputtered and stopped, and the car went very still.

Moving carefully, deliberately, Adrian let his hand grope for the flashlight that had rolled underneath his seat, then slowly climbed out of the car. His hands were shaking slightly, making the beam of the flashlight dance over the abyss that had almost swallowed him.

The road which should have led him over the bridge and out of here came to an abrupt, jagged stop. The bridge was gone. Collapsed, fallen, vanished. The only road out of Silent Hill was gone. He was trapped.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrian tries to find a way out of Silent Hill and discovers that he's not the only living person in town.

Adrian stared across the chasm that had once been the bridge leading to, and more importantly, away from Silent Hill. The beam of the flashlight was swallowed by the fog after only a few feet. There was no hint as to how much of the bridge had collapsed. If there was something, even half of it, left standing, he might have a chance of reaching the other side. But to find out, he would have to wait until sunrise, and after what he had seen, he really didn’t feel like spending the night in this godforsaken town.

Maybe there was another way out, through the mountains. The map Adrian had bought had shown just this one single road, but then again, area maps tended to overlook the smaller details in favor of showing a bigger scope. There might be some small forest road that reconnected with the highway at a later point. At the moment, he would even settle for a hiking trail. He needed another, more detailed map of the region, which meant going back into town. Back to where that thing had been. Well, this time, he would come prepared.

Adrian looked at the car, frowning. Its trunk was dipping down, both rear tires gripping on nothing but fog and air. He should probably consider himself lucky that he was still alive, but the idea of having to go back into Silent Hill on foot made him feel strangely exposed.

As if the town had somehow sensed his thoughts, Adrian heard a rustling in the bushes at the side of the road nearby. Spinning around, he shone his flashlight in the direction of the noise, and just barely caught a glimpse of the same shadowy, fog-shrouded animal shape he had seen before, disappearing into the darkness up ahead.

Once again, Adrian cast a glance back at the car. The tire iron would have made an acceptable, if somewhat unwieldy weapon, but it, like everything else that might have been useful, was in the trunk. Shuddering, Adrian zipped his jacket all the way up and, tightening his grip around the flashlight, set out down the road back to town.

By the time he arrived back at the Historical Society, his hair was damp from the fog, and he pushed a few wet strands back from his forehead while he stood on the road, listening intently. There were no shuffling footfalls up ahead, no echo of the unearthly scream the creature had let loose, but still, Adrian remained tense.

Something wasn’t right. He was sure he had closed the door behind him, but now, it was standing slightly ajar, and there were just the slightest hints of noise from within. It sounded almost like voices, whispering. Just as Adrian was finally sure that yes, it had been voices, the noise stopped.

For a moment, Adrian considered just walking on, going deeper into town. But for now, the Historical Society was his best bet for finding a map. Turning off the flashlight, Adrian slowly crept up towards the door, skirting around the gravel path to avoid making any noise, the lights up and down the road providing just enough illumination so that he wasn’t moving in total darkness. Flattening himself against the wall beside the door, he reached out and slowly pushed it open further, hoping to catch a glimpse at whoever or whatever was inside before they saw him.

But apparently, that had been just what had been expected. Suddenly, the door swung open, and he was blinded by a bright light shone directly into his eyes, which made him throw up his arm and turn his head to protect himself from the glare. At the same time, close behind him, there was the unmistakable click of a gun being cocked.

“I thought it was one of those monsters. I guess I was right, after all.”

“Adrian? What the hell are you doing here?”

Adrian knew those voices. The fear that had gripped him only a second before evaporated like clouds in the desert sky, leaving only a sharp annoyance behind.

“Would you please take the light down, Daniel? And the gun, if you don’t mind, Laurie.”

The light went down, and Adrian blinked, trying to chase away the spots of green and yellow that were clouding up his vision. A short glance over his shoulder told him that the gun was still trained on his back.

“What are you doing here?” Laurie repeated Dan’s question.

“I could ask you the same question,” Adrian said, keeping his voice level.

“But you didn’t. So?”

“Lower the gun, and maybe we can talk like civilized people.”

There was a moment of tense silence, then Laurie lowered the gun until it was pointing at the ground. Adrian noted that she didn’t holster it, though, and didn’t put the safety back on, either.

“Let’s go inside, out of this fog,” Dan said, turning around. Adrian followed him through the door, Laurie at his heels.

Once inside, Adrian noticed that Dan and Laurie had apparently had less qualms about breaking down the doors of uninhabited buildings than he himself had shown. The door to the archive was standing open, its lock busted and splintered.

Laurie was watching him with all the dangerous yet cautious attention of a tigress who had stepped out of the bushes only to find herself faced with a hunter. Dan seemed less hostile, but Adrian noticed that he was keeping his distance. From both of them.

Leaning against a table, Adrian crossed his arms in front of his chest, letting the uncomfortable silence reign for a few more seconds. Letting his gaze wander from one to the other, he finally gave a short, somewhat tense smile.

“To be honest, I'm not quite sure of why I am here myself.”

“That's bullshit.”

Adrian narrowed his eyes at Laurie: “It's the truth. Some time ago, I started having strange and somewhat unsettling dreams. Dreams of this town. I know there is something I have to do here, but I'm not certain as to what.”

Dan had moved over to Laurie's side, and was giving him a skeptical look: “Don't you think that's a bit... esoteric? You never struck me as the type to believe in all of this mystical stuff. Dreams and such.”

Adrian sighed. “Well, none of you ever knew me very well, Daniel,” he said, shaking his head with a bemused smile.

“You could say that,” Dan muttered.

“So what brings you two here, then? I highly doubt it's the scenery.”

Dan and Laurie exchanged glances, a silent communication between people who knew each other well enough to no longer need words.

“It's my mother,” Laurie finally said. “She got it into her head to drive all across the country on her own to visit us, instead of taking the plane like any sensible person would have.” Despite her sharp words, Laurie's voice was soft, worried. “And then she disappeared. The last time someone saw her was somewhere around here. Well, not exactly here, but...”

Adrian let his eyes wander over to the window, gazing out into the darkness that surrounded their little island of light. “Don't you think that's a rather strange coincidence?” he said, quietly.

Laurie gave a snort that could have been a laugh, if it hadn't been so bitter: “Right after we got here, we were attacked by some kind of...” she gestured helplessly, “flying demon thing that tried to claw off my face. Really, I've got more important things to worry about right now than you suddenly turning up here. Like, oh, where my mom is. And if she's even still alive.”

Laurie's voice faltered, and she shivered, wrapping her arms around her waist. Dan pulled her into his arms protectively, giving Adrian a short glare. “We've got to find her.”

Adrian looked in the direction of the archive, then back at the couple. “Anything I can do to help?”

“Honestly? I'd rather you didn't.”

For a moment, Adrian was surprised at how much Laurie's words stung. He only wanted to help. But then, it was understandable that both of them would probably feel more at ease without him around. After all, he had saddled them with part of a burden he had originally intended to carry by himself, and they had every right to resent him for it.

Adrian nodded. “I hope you find her. Meanwhile, I'll be looking for a way out of here.” He tensed his jaw, frowning: “The bridge seems to have collapsed.”

“What?” Dan's eyes widened, and his arm tightened around Laurie.

Adrian gave an annoyed sigh, once again looking out of the window, back in the direction he had come from: “It's gone. There's no road out of here any more, except maybe on foot.” He inclined his head in the direction of the archive: “You didn't by any chance find a map in there, did you?”

“No,” Dan shook his head, “but then, we weren't looking for one.”

“Dan,” Laurie said, quietly, “let's go. The sooner we find her, the better.”

Adrian gave them a slight smile: “If I find anything, I'll let you know. I'll leave you a note here, or something. Both regarding your mother, and how to get out of this place.”

“Thanks,” Dan nodded at him, letting go of Laurie, who turned and walked towards the door. Dan made out to follow her, but then turned back towards Adrian again, his hand going behind his back. “Here, take this,” he said, handing Adrian a gun. “I may not know much about you, but I do remember that you pretty much never carried one of these. Well, out here, I think you'd better.” He looked Adrian squarely in the eye, then said: “The world's still a dangerous place, you know.” With that, he turned around and followed Laurie out of the door.

It was only some time later, when Adrian had rifled through all the books, folders and papers in the archive without finding anything useful, that Adrian remembered that he hadn't seen a car parked anywhere near.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still looking for a way out of Silent Hill, Adrian sees what might very well be Rorschach's ghost. Then, Silent Hill's other face reveals itself, causing Adrian to come face to iron face with Pyramid Head.

Walking down the street, Adrian was amazed by how familiar this town seemed. He had never been here, hadn’t even heard of this town before, but he still knew its layout just as well, maybe even better, than he knew that of New York. Through nightly repetition, dream had turned into memory, and now he could walk through Silent Hill’s streets without even having to look at their names. Adrian’s mouth twitched into a self-deprecating smile. If only he had dreamed of a way out. But that was not how the dream had ended. He wasn’t exactly sure what kind of ending he had dreamed up for himself, but he was quite certain it hadn’t been a happy one. People like him didn’t get a happy ending, not even in their own dreams.

Before it had begun its slow decay, Silent Hill must have been a pleasant little town to live in. Closer to the old town center, the large mansions gave way to small, almost picturesque two-storey buildings. Adrian had passed a few apartment complexes, but other than that, there were almost none of the usual trappings of urbanization, of too many people living in increasingly cramped spaces. There wasn’t even a supermarket or large department store. At least he couldn’t remember one. All of the town’s businesses were small mom-and-pop affairs. It was the kind of place city folk moved to when they wanted to raise a family, or rather, it would have been if it weren’t so far away from the rest of civilization, a fact that worried Adrian more and more.

Drifting lazily from the front of a stone building to the mouth of an alleyway, the beam of Adrian’s flashlight was caught and reflected by a pair of eyes. Adrian stopped in his tracks, his hand going to the gun he had tucked away in his belt. For a few seconds, none of them moved, then the creature turned its head and slipped away into the darkness of the alleyway, leaving Adrian alone with the impossibly loud sound of his heartbeat drumming in his ears. For a crazy moment, he felt an almost uncontrollable urge to follow the creature into the alley, but then, hand still on the gun, Adrian backed away slowly, walking backwards until he was sure he had put ample space between himself and whatever that thing was.

Why was this creature following him?

Don’t be silly, he chided himself, shaking his head. It probably wasn’t even the same animal he had glimpsed at the side of the road before. This was an abandoned town surrounded by wilderness, it was to be expected that a few wild animals would have had moved in after the human population had left.

Adrian’s wandering had led him to the front steps of what used to be Silent Hill’s only school, Midwich Elementary. Following a whim, he decided to go inside and check the classrooms. Maybe he would find something useful here. After all, a favourite topic of elementary school geography was familiarizing the children with the area they were living in.

Adrian had to throw his whole weight against the large double door a few times before the rusty hinges decided to budge, but finally, he was able to push the door open, the creaking and scraping noises setting his teeth on edge.

The door opened into a large hallway stretching away to the left and right, the beam of his flashlight barely reaching each end. To his right, he could make out a drinking fountain, and the floor was littered with paper and the occasional book, which was somewhat strange considering how the building didn’t seem to have been vandalized. There were no smashed windows, no broken down doors, not even graffiti on the lockers that were lined up against the walls.

Adrian aimed the beam of his flashlight at the papers lying at his feet. Large, clumsily scrawled letters covering a few sheets of lined paper. Single-digit calculations, some of them wrong. Pushing a few sheets aside with the tip of his shoe, he uncovered some drawings, the usual houses, flowers, animals and stick-people. Somehow, the bright, colourful scenes on the floor seemed to increase the darkness and misery that pervaded the rest of the building.

There was something odd about one of the drawings, though. Adrian narrowed his eyes, tilting his head to the side to put the drawing at the right angle. That squiggle in the upper right hand corner seemed somehow familiar, and he was sure he’d seen it before, a long time ago…

Rorschach. The letters that Adrian had, at first, taken for the kid’s initials were in fact Rorschach’s signature mark.

But that was impossible. Ludicrous. This was a child’s drawing, and surely, the child had just scribbled something into the corner without knowing what it was. Or maybe it had known. After all, children had been undeniably fascinated by the phenomenon of masked vigilantes, something he had been able to use to his advantage, financially.

Looking up from the drawing, Adrian thought he caught a movement at the far end of the hallway, and shone his light in that direction, the beam just catching the edge of the outline of a small figure taking off around the corner. A small figure in what had looked like a trench coat.

Running down the hallway, Adrian rounded the corner at the same time he heard the click of a lock falling into place. There was no one to be seen. Whoever it had been, and he was most definitely not going to jump to conclusions here, not letting his mind spin into some kind of paranoia, he had probably hidden himself away in one of the adjoining classrooms.

Adrian briskly walked down to the first door, trying the handle. Locked. Shining his flashlight through the door’s small glass window, he tried to make out details of the room behind it, but couldn’t see much besides a few desks. He tried the next door, again without success, but the third seemed to be the charm, swinging open without protest. Adrian stepped into the room, sweeping it with the flashlight.

It was empty. Desks, two cupboards, a row of brightly colored handprints on the wall. But no sign of anybody. Adrian was turning to leave when he caught the writing on the blackboard, the sight of which made him freeze in place. The scrawled letters were unmistakably the same handwriting as that in the diary

“But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.”

There was a howling, screaming noise as suddenly, not far off, a siren flared into life, the sound clawing through Adrian’s ears and down his spine, turning his blood into ice. He knew that this time, there would be no waking up, no simply forgetting what was bound to come. This time, everything was real.

At the first note of the siren, Adrian’s surroundings had started to change. The black and grey darkness was replaced by a sickly orange glow, as if everything were lit up by an unseen fire. The paint on the walls, parts of the floor, even some of the walls themselves started to peel away, falling not down but upwards, revealing a skeleton of corroded iron mesh.

Adrian could feel panic rising like bile in his throat, and he stepped back into the hallway, casting around for an escape route, some place unaffected by this hellish transformation. Somewhere he could hide. He didn’t know how, but he knew that he shouldn’t be caught outside right now. He needed to hide until this was over.

Sprinting down the corridor, he threw himself against the door to the men’s room, not expecting it to be open and almost falling to his knees as he stumbled inside. It was darker in here than on the hallway, the transformation seeming incomplete, and Adrian drew a deep breath.

His exhalation was answered by a hissing, gnashing sound as the shadows in the far end of the room began to move. As if they had just formed themselves out of the darkness, two small shapes disentangled themselves from the shadows. They were only as tall as children, but their bodies were smooth, their skin cracked and dark like burnt wood, their faces featureless except for two holes where the eyes should have been. From those holes came a red-hot glow, and they were looking in Adrian’s direction, creeping towards him with a mindless purpose, their twisted bodies moving with an uncanny elegance.

With a short, strangled cry, Adrian pulled the gun from his belt, aiming it at the nearer of the two horrors, and fired two rounds into its head. The thing screeched like a wounded bird of prey and collapsed at the feet of its companion, twitching for a second before going still. Not waiting for any reaction of the second monster, Adrian fired another round, which tore through the thing’s throat, leaving it hissing madly as it fell down on top of the other one. Its body was still thrashing when Adrian stepped back out onto the corridor and took off in the direction of the exit.

The wail of the siren had stopped, but now, the air was filled with a low, booming noise that seemed to filter in not through his ears, but through his very bones. Blood rushing through his ears, Adrian didn’t notice the scrabbling and clicking until he turned the corner into the next corridor, the far end of which was covered by a mass of crawling beetles which were scurrying all over the floor, walls and ceiling, advancing on him like a shining black wave.

At the end of the corridor stood a man, his face hidden by thick sheets of corroded metal which formed a mishappen pyramid around his head. One of his hands was dragging a huge sword, the blade of which was splashed with blood. The man was naked except for a loincloth hanging around his hips, his skin, too, splashed with blood, some fresh, some already drying in rust-brown patterns on his torso.

Noticing Adrian, the man cocked his head in a curious motion exaggerated by the metal pyramid sitting on his shoulders. Slowly, as if he had all the time in the world, as if he knew Adrian wouldn’t be able to escape, he advanced, his sword making a scraping noise as its tip was dragged over the floor.

Adrian wanted to run, flee, but it was as if his legs were rooted to the ground, leaving him unable to move even a step backwards. Hands shaking, he raised the pistol, firing at the swordsman, but the bullets didn’t seem to hit the target, instead ricocheting off the metal helmet. The man seemed to be completely unimpressed by Adrian’s attempts at stopping him, still advancing at a leisurely pace, and underneath all the panic and sheer terror, a part of Adrian noted that there was something strangely familiar about him.

Whatever it was, Adrian had no time to ponder it, for as soon as he was close enough, the man raised his impossibly large sword over his head and brought it down in a great arc aimed towards Adrian’s head. And suddenly, Adrian’s body was obeying him again, ducking and rolling out of the way of that horrible weapon which sliced into the steel mesh of the wall next to him as if it were nothing but spiderwebs. Adrian once again ducked out of the way as the sword came down on him a second time, this time close enough that he could feel a rush of air at his ear.

Lying on his back, Adrian fired a round straight into the man’s chest, stopping him in mid-swing. His sword balanced over his head, his enemy seemed to consider Adrian for a second. But instead of dying, or even letting go of his sword, the man just made a strange noise, like bone grating over metal, hollow and horrible.

He was laughing. Adrian had just shot him in the chest, and the monster was laughing. He once again raised his sword, ready to cleave his prey in half, when the siren wailed into life again. With a grunt, the man let his weapon sink. Adrian was unable to do anything but stare, and for a cold second, Adrian knew the man was staring back. Putting him to memory. Then, the swordsman turned around and, once again carelessly dragging his weapon over the floor, left, his army of insects following him, taking with them the glow, the rusted metal walls and all the strange horror that had suddenly engulfed Adrian, leaving him once more alone in the dark, cold hallways of Midwich Elementary.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying to find Dan and Laurie, Adrian wanders into Silent Hill's church, where he finds more clues about the mysterious cult that has haunted the town's past. Pyramid Head reveals his true face.

Carefully, as if he didn't trust his legs to carry his own weight, Adrian stood up, leaning against the wall for support. He was caught in a nightmare. There was no rational explanation for this, no way his mind could explain what was happening without having to resort to the supernatural. But whatever the explanation, he had to get out of here, or he would die. Of that much he was sure, surer than he had ever been of anything before.

Dan and Laurie. He had to find them, warn them. If they were still alive, that was, and after what he had just experienced, he wasn't so sure. Adrian cast around the gloom for his flashlight, which he had dropped the moment the swordsman had taken his first swing at him. It had hit the floor and rolled against the wall, and Adrian hoped that it was still working.

He had to shake it once, but then, the beam flickered into existence again, giving him at least a little light to go by. He had no idea where he should be looking for them. He couldn't just search at random – even in a small town like Silent Hill, the chance that he would just run into them was minuscule at best.

They were looking for Sally. Where would they start? Public buildings. The police station, the hospital, the church, the town hall. Places where someone who wanted to be found would take refuge. He knew that the church was just a few streets over, and that he would pass it anyway if he wanted to cross the river into the central part of town, where the hospital and the police station were located. Adrian no longer doubted his uncanny knowledge of the town's layout. If this was really his nightmare come to life, well, he had been here often enough.

Looking over his shoulder in the direction he had come from, Adrian decided he would take the direct route through the enclosed schoolyard instead of going back the way he had come. He didn't feel like passing by the men's room. Just in case one of the creatures was still alive. Then again, maybe they had vanished along with the swordsman and his army of insects. Somehow, neither possibility seemed appealing.

Before he left the school through the creaking double doors, Adrian checked the clip in his pistol. He still had a few rounds left. Hopefully, they would be enough to see him through this horror.

Adrian had almost reached the intersection at which the church stood when he once again saw a shadow move in the fog in front of him. Halting, he squinted, trying to bring it into focus, but the tendrils of fog seemed to move around it almost as if they were alive themselves, hiding the exact shape of its outline from Adrian's gaze. The only thing he could make out for sure was that it was an animal. It seemed to have stopped moving the moment he had, standing completely still, blocking his path.

He took a step towards it, and the animal gave a low, rumbling growl in warning. Another step, and the growl grew louder, making him stop in his tracks again. Adrian took a step to the side, and the animal mirrored his movement. It didn't seem aggressive, just... watchful. And it didn't seem inclined to move out of his way on its own.

Taking a quick step towards the creature, Adrian yelled at it, causing it to flinch back slightly. Flinch, but not budge.

Why was it standing in his way? He needed to get to the church. He didn't have time for this. Of course, he could always go back to the last intersection and just go around it, but Adrian had a growing feeling that the animal would just follow him, like it seemed to have been doing since he had arrived in Silent Hill.

That left him with only one option. Holding the light steady in the direction of the animal, Adrian took out the gun, leveling it at the creature, which gave a slight growl. Steeling himself, he pulled the trigger.

The bullet hit its mark right in front of the animal's paws, the noise of gunfire echoing through the empty streets alongside the animal's howl of alarm. Before Adrian could shoot again, the creature turned and vanished back into the fog it had come from.

Silent Hill's church was small, yet imposing, sitting on a patch of raised ground right at the intersection of two streets. Steps led up to its large front doors, which were set slightly back into its stone facade. Hearing a noise, Adrian looked up and saw a number of crows sitting on the roof as well as perching on the large wrought-iron cross that crowned it. They were flapping their wings, hopping about and cawing, their high-up perch keeping them out of the worst of the fog. After all the monstrosities and strange creatures he had encountered, the sight of those ordinary birds almost made Adrian breathe a sigh of relief.

The doors of the church were unlocked, moving almost soundlessly. Slipping inside, Adrian took a few moments to survey the churches' interior. Like its outward face, the inside of the church was simple, yet imposing, the dark wood and wrought iron giving it a sombre, almost gothic feel. Rows of pews faced the altar on the other side of the room, and next to the doors, a small staircase led up to a gallery that ran around the whole room.

Walking past the rows of pews, Adrian climbed the three steps that took him up to the altar and the lectern standing next to it. Seeing that the lectern still held a large, leather-bound book, Adrian furrowed his brow. It was strange enough that the priest would have simply left what Adrian assumed to be the town bible behind when he had left, but what was even stranger was the absence of dust on the pages of the book. The floor, the pews, the altar, everything in this church, this whole town, was covered by a fine layer of dust that seemed almost like ashes, but the book was clean, as if someone had put it there only a short time before Adrian had walked through the door.

Putting the flashlight down on the altar so that its beam would illuminate the pages, Adrian began leafing through the book. At first glance, it seemed to be a bible like any other, but it quickly became apparent that somebody had been inserting pages and whole chapters containing what seemed to be a different theology alltogether into the book. It was rather reminiscent of what he had read in that book he had found at the Historical Society, talking of old gods, sacrifices, and the transformation of this world into a paradise for the righteous and the believers. The further Adrian read, the more ghoulish the inserted texts became. He had heard his share of fanatic preachers, talking of fire and brimstone or of slaughtering the unbelievers, but none of them had ever been as graphic in their descriptions of what would happen as the scribe of this cult was. To Adrian, their heaven sounded more like hell on earth, a prison of lies made out of the bones of those who would perish in bringing it about. It sounded a bit like the other Silent Hill, that vision of fire, rust and horrors he had just witnesses, and for a moment, he wondered if maybe the cult had actually achieved its goal of resurrecting the old god without anyone outside of the town noticing.

Snapping the book shut, Adrian turned away from the twisted ideas within. He would take a short look around the gallery, just to be sure, and then leave this place. It was giving him the creeps, and after everything that had happened, that was saying something. Maybe it was because he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.

Walking around the gallery, the feeling intensified, making him shiver, the hair on the back of his neck standing up. Standing in front of the church organ, Adrian finally got the answer as to why. Tied to its high, massive pipes was a body, its torso and limbs wrapped in barbed wire that had ripped and torn into the dirty fatigues it was wearing, and was piercing the flesh underneath. Its face and eyes were hidden underneath a gas mask reminiscent of those worn during World War II.

And then, just before the sirens once again began to wail, the body moved. At first, Adrian though it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but no, it was moving, slow and sluggish at first, then struggling against its terrible bonds in earnest, causing the barbs to sink deeper into its flesh. Adrian recoiled in horror, grasping the gallery's railing for support. With a sick, ripping sound, the monstrosity tore one of its arms free, flailing in Adrian's direction as if it wanted to claw at him, the masked face turning towards him, looking at him with its huge, insect-like eyes.

Fear flooded through Adrian's bones like an icy tide, and he turned and ran, down the stairs and through the doors, slamming them behind himself, leaning against them with his back, as if he feared the thing would break free and come after him, only to realize he had traded one face of hell for the other. All around him, the landscape was peeling away like so much old skin, revealing the hellish structure that lay underneath Silent Hill's seemingly dead exterior. The sky was now swarming with crows, and at the foot of the steps to the church stood the swordsman, his terrible weapon raised and pointing in Adrian's direction. Then, slinging the great knife on his shoulder, he advanced, unhurried, and at that moment, Adrian realized whom the monster reminded him of. The stance, the relaxed, almost amused calmness while around him, chaos and bloodshed reigned...

“Blake?” It was only a whisper, and he couldn't have heard it, not with the noise and underneath that terrifying iron helmet, but he still stopped in his tracks, once again making that curious rasping sound that seemed to echo all around Adrian.

Then, the thing that might have once been the Comedian was moving again, coming ever closer, and his survival instinct was screaming at Adrian to run, run, but his body wouldn't obey him, instead shrinking against the wooden doors behind him. In a movement that was way too fast for someone wielding such a huge weapon, Blake raised the sword off his shoulder and thrust it forward.

For a moment, Adrian felt confused about the fact that he was still alive. There should have been pain and blood as the great knife pierced his guts, but instead, Blake had thrust the weapon through the heavy doors. Why? Not a second later, Adrian heard a blood-curdling scream from behind him, the death wail of some unfortunate creature that was now impaled on the tip of Blake's sword.

Before Adrian could think about why on earth or in hell Blake should have wanted to protect him from what had been behind the door, the man's hand was around his throat, squeezing, lifting him up until his feet were kicking in the air, his hands clawing at Blake's wrist. There was a low moan from underneath the helmet, half pain, half something else, and Adrian doubled his efforts, fingers tearing at the monster's skin, lashing out with his feet in hopes of hitting something, anything.

The back of his head collided with the door, and for a moment, Adrian's world went black. When his senses returned, his face was pressed against the wood, an inhumanly strong hand holding his neck in a painful grip, holding him still while the other was tearing at his clothes.

Struggling with all the strength he had left, Adrian almost managed to break free, but Blake's fist smashing into his spine sent his world spinning into agony once again. His pitiful whimpers turned into a rasping scream as Blake thrust into him, tearing, his fingers bruising Adrian's hips. Adrian had never considered himself a believer, but now he was praying for darkness, oblivion, for himself to wake up, anything to end the pain and humiliation.

He almost didn't hear the siren above his screams and the creature's hollow moans, but the moment they reached him, he was released, dropped like a toy at the end of recess, and his tormentor walked away, his sword still embedded into one of the doors Adrian now curled up against, his face buried in his hands. Above him, the circling crows settled down on the roof of the church, looking down on the shroud of fog that once again covered the streets of Silent Hill.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still shaken by what happened at the church, Adrian makes his way to Silent Hill's hospital, and discovers the true nature of the mysterious creature that was following him around. Meeting Dan at the hospital, Adrian then descends down into the heart of Silent Hill...

He never should have come here. He should have endured the dreams, the insubstantial fright, instead of trying to assuage them by following their call. After all, he had endured the months of nightmares after killing all those innocent people. He had endured, and the nightmares had faded away.

This one wouldn't fade away, though. Ever since he had gotten here, it had just gotten worse and worse. And now... Adrian's mind recoiled from the thought, even though the pain was still fresh in his body. Of all people, it had to have been the one person whose death had never weighed on his conscience. Even before he had turned into that thing, Edward Blake had been a monster. A cruel, heartless monster who had killed for no reason other than that he'd felt like it. Oh, Blake might have had the public fooled by his patriotic act, but Adrian had never bought that one, not for a second.

Shivering, Adrian looked around. He couldn't stay here, curled up in the cold, wet fog that seemed to penetrate everything, until it was seeping into his very bones. But he didn't want to get up. He was hurt, cold and tired, and all he wanted was to close his eyes and hope that when he opened them again, he would be back home. Safe.

The hospital. He would go to the hospital, and hope that the townspeople hadn't cleared out the beds. There, he would lie down. Just for a little while. But what if the sirens wailed while he was asleep? Then again, what more could this town do to him.

Adrian fastened his pants with shaking hands and tried his best to ignore the pain that seemed to flare through his body with every movement he made. Maybe, if he was lucky, he would find some painkillers at the hospital, too. He had dropped the flashlight when the tortured body had begun to move, and, looking at the great knife still sticking out of the wooden door, he felt no desire to go back inside to get it. It was probably broken anyway, and at the moment, he preferred the gloom that surrounded him. The darkness had something comforting to it, and the streetlights gave off enough illumination for him to find his way around.

It was only when he was at the middle of the small bridge that crossed the river into the central part of town that Adrian noticed that he was being followed. He wasn't surprised at seeing the animal behind him, hanging back a bit but shadowing his every move. As if it were watching out for him.

And why hadn't he seen that before? It had never made any move to attack. It had growled, yes, and barred his way. Barred his way to the church, and maybe, if he hadn't been there when the sirens had gone off, it would have never happened. And he'd shot at the creature. He had been so blinded by terror, fog and paranoia that he hadn't been able to see the truth, and for some reason, that realization scared him almost as much as the monsters that inhabited Silent Hill did.

“I'm sorry,” he whispered into the fog, holding out his hand toward the animal. The creature gave a short, almost mournful yowl and shook its head, taking two cautious steps towards him. But just as its silhouette seemed to finally solidify, to free itself from the unnatural fog surrounding it, it stopped. For a moment, Adrian thought he could make out long, tufted ears on its head, and he choked, his still outstretched hand trembling. This couldn't be. He had seen her die, ripped apart into subatomic particles. It couldn't be her. Adrian took a step forward, and the animal growled, recoiling onto its haunches.

It didn't want to be touched. She didn't want him to touch her. Adrian let his hand sink to his side. For a moment, his chest felt like it was being clawed apart from the inside, and he let his gaze fall to the wet asphalt at his feet. When he looked up again, the animal was gone.

When Adrian arrived at the hospital, he found that the door had already been forced ajar, the fog creeping in through the opening. Inside, he stood for a moment, trying to get his bearings and figure out where he should turn to first. Maybe Dan and Laurie were still here. Adrian was tempted to call out for them. He was desperate for human contact, for seeing a normal, alive person, but at the same time, a part of him was afraid of meeting them again. He didn't know what to tell them.

His decision was made for him when the beam of a flashlight came dancing around the corner of one of the hallways, along with the sound of Dan's footsteps.

“Adrian?” Dan blinked in surprise, obviously not having expected to see Adrian again so soon. Or maybe at all. Taking in Adrian's disheveled, harrowed appearance, Dan's face creased into a worried frown. “What happened?”

Adrian looked away, clenching his jaws, his hands curling into fists before he forced himself to relax. It was none of their business.

“This town is what happened,” he replied, trying to keep his voice from trembling. “We have to get out of here, Daniel. Now.” When Dan didn't say anything, Adrian went on: “Have you found Sally?”

Dan sighed, shaking his head in a way that seemed almost defeated: “No. And what's worse, Laurie got attacked by some kind of... some kind of dog. It's not that bad, she's sitting back in one of the examination rooms, but I want to treat those wounds properly. I figured that since this was a hospital, there might still be something left lying around. But no luck so far.” Looking at Adrian, there was a glimmer of hope in Daniel's eyes: “Did you find a way out of here?”

“No.” It almost hurt, seeing the light in Dan's eyes die. Hope had become a precious commodity, and Adrian had almost none of it left. “Still,” he tried, “we could just head out into the forest. We're bound to come out somewhere.”

Dan shook his head: “You'll have to go alone. The thing caught Laurie's leg, and I don't think she'll be able to stumble through the forest at night.”

Adrian set his jaw, looking in the direction from which Dan had appeared. He wasn't ready to accept defeat, not yet. Nor was he ready to just leave Dan and Laurie to fend on their own in this town full of monsters. “We'll find a way. But first, I'm going to help you find some medical supplies.”

Daniel gave him a weary, almost tired smile: “Still trying to fix everything, right, Adrian?”

Adrian found himself smiling in spite of himself. “I assume you've already checked most of this floor?”

Dan nodded, then said: “How about you take the basement, and I check the first floor?”

“There's only one problem. I'm going to need some light down there, and I lost my flashlight when...” Adrian looked away, then returned his gaze to Dan: “I lost it in the church.”

“Well...” Dan made a face, seeming not too happy with what he was about to do, then handed his flashlight over to Adrian: “Take mine. Laurie's got another one, but I guess she won't be needing it as much as either of us. Just don't lose it, ok?”

“Thank you. I won't.” Heading off in the direction of the stairs, Adrian called over his shoulder: “And if you find any painkillers, save some for me, will you?”

“Will do, Adrian.”

As soon as he was on the stairs, Adrian readied his gun, pointing its muzzle towards the floor while he wearily descended the stairway. He didn't trust this town any more. It had done everything it could to destroy him, and he wouldn't be caught unprepared by its next attempt.

The stairs seemed to go on forever, but Adrian wasn't sure if the basement really was that deep down, or if it was just a combination of nerves and imagination. Finally, he found himself standing in front of a large double door, its paint chipped and peeling, the wire glass windows in its upper half blind with dust. There was no lock on the door, and Adrian slowly pushed it open with his shoulder, his eyes trained on the corridor that lay beyond.

There were no movements in the hallway beyond. Adrian relaxed a little. This place seemed to function as something of a repository for old furniture. He could make out a desk, something that looked like an ancient office chair, and a filing cabinet standing in some distance.

Walking slowly down the hallway, Adrian stopped in front of the first door. Putting the safety back on, he pushed the gun back into the front of his pants, then opened the door. The room seemed empty, except for something standing in the corner.

Something humanoid. Quickly grabbing his gun, Adrian backed away two steps, training both the light and the gun on the figure, which made no movement. The figure was dressed in an old nurse's uniform, with a short skirt and a cap. Its body looked perfectly normal, which made its disfigured face seem even more horrifying. It was featureless, its head seeming as if it had been wrapped in bandages that had then become part of the face itself, so that there was nothing left of its mouth and nose except for a vague shape underneath the wrappings of rotting skin. Even its eyes were covered, the bandages haven sunken into the caverns of the eye sockets to form two shallow pits. It seemed to be completely oblivious of Adrian, which made him shudder in relief.

Keeping his eyes and gun on the thing, Adrian backed out into the hallway, closing the door to the room, careful to not make any sound. It was when he turned to move on that he discovered that there were more of them.

He hadn't been able to see them from the door at the stairway. The first had been hidden by the filing cabinet, and the other had been too far away for the light to reach. Two more, both as still as the first one in the room. Blind, disfigured shapes, lurking in the hallway. He should turn back. Turn back, leave the hospital, leave the town. Leave Dan and Laurie behind. But he couldn't do that. He owed them to at least try. Besides, he'd never make it on his own, without something to dull the pain that was still coursing through his body, making him limp slightly with every other step.

Carefully, he crept onwards, past the two silent figures, checking the rooms as he went. More empty rooms, and more of the strange nurses standing in corners. One was even standing right in the middle of the hallway.

He had passed the fifth one, holding his breath, his hand trembling slightly, when she twitched her head.

Adrian didn't wait around this time. His gun had been trained on her head, and he put a bullet through her without hesitation. It was the loud crack of gunfire that woke the others.

Silently, without even a scream or a rasping breath, they began to move, stiff-limbed like puppets whose joints had rusted shut from disuse. Even though they had neither eyes nor ears, they seemed to know where he was.

Swiveling around, ready to take off down the corridor, Adrian was stopped short by the sight of three more of the creatures coming down the hallway from the opposite end. Raising his gun, he shot the first one in the shoulder, throwing her back a pace, but his second bullet missed its mark entirely, as did the third. Pain, exhaustion and sheer terror were finally catching up with him, causing his hand to shake wildly.

One of the nurses jerked up her hand, the scalpel she was holding glinting in the light. At that moment, Adrian knew that if he chose to fight, he would lose. There was no chance of survival. There never had been.

Turning around, Adrian bolted through the door that was only a few steps away, the faded numbers on the plate barely legible.

The first thing Adrian noticed was the smell of fire. The iron-plated walls were covered in rust, dented and gashed. A voice that seemed to come from every corner of the room at once greeted him, so loud that it was booming in his ears, yet its inflection was surprisingly calm and gentle, almost emotionless.

“Hello, Adrian.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone must pay a price

Eyes wide, wild, Adrian watched the figure materialize in the middle of the room. Instead of appearing in the blink of an eye, this time, Jon materialized slowly, like blood oozing from a shallow wound, bones, flesh and skin putting themselves together to finally form something akin to a human body. Maybe it was because of all of the disfigured creatures he had seen during the last few hours, but for the first time, Adrian noticed just how alien and, in fact, disconcerting Jon's appearance was. The superhuman was regarding him with an expressionless face, small red dots dancing in his eyes like dying stars.

“Jon? I... I thought you had left earth, never to return.”

“I have.”

“You have to get us out of here!” Adrian did not even try to keep the pleading, the sheer desperation out of his voice. He was beyond trying to uphold appearances now, the town having stripped his soul naked and raw. “Dan and Laurie, they're upstairs... it means to kill us!”

“I can't.”

“What do you mean, you can't?” For a moment, Adrian was aghast, staring wide-eyed at the figure standing in front of him. But then, fear and survival instinct turned into anger, and he clenched his fists, snarling. “Don't give me that speech about just being a puppet in a play. You can do anything you want. You can create life, so don't tell me you can't save it!”

Jon seemed completely unimpressed by Adrian's anger. Cocking his head to the side, he regarded Adrian curiously. “This is not about what I can or cannot do, Adrian. It never was. Haven't you realized?”

“Then what is this about? Tell me!” Adrian's voice had risen until he was almost screaming. “Is this about revenge? That's what it is about, isn't it.” A humorless, barking laugh escaped him. “Everyone must pay a price. That's what the note said. And this is my price, hm? You lured me here, and you're going to let me get torn to pieces to get back at me. For putting you in a position where all your powers were worthless, where even the goddamn superhuman couldn't do anything. That's low, Jon. That's really low. I guess you're still more human than you like to think you are.”

“I did not lure you anywhere, Adrian. You went here on your own.”

“I went here because I had to!” Now Adrian was shouting, his finger pointing at Jon's chest. “I went here because I got that diary. I went here because of the dreams. I had to, because...” There, Adrian faltered. Because of what? Because he had wanted to keep his secret safe? He could have done that from his office in New York. He had planned for an eventuality like this, after all. He had planned for everything. Because of the dreams? The dreams had been a warning to stay away. Night after night, they had warned him of this town. Any sane person would have stayed miles away from a place that induced such nightmares.

But not him. He had come here even though he had known it was a bad idea. He had come here because he had known that.

“It's all about you, Adrian. It always has been.” Jon's voice was almost soothing, but there was a hint of derision there. Or was that just his own mind, supplying emotion where there was, in fact, none?

“No,” Adrian said, shaking his head almost violently, “no, no. This is not about me. This is about the people in this town, and what they did. They thought this, this thing, their god, that it would turn earth into paradise, but all they did was unleash hell. They sacrificed innocent children...”

Adrian could feel panic rising in his throat again, and he turned around, meaning to head for the door he had come through, but the door had vanished. There was nothing but twisted wire and rusty metal sheets behind him. Which could not be, no, he had probably just moved away from the door while talking to Jon. His eyes cast around for the door, a door, any kind of way out of here, but there was none.

“Let me out of here!” With a yell, Adrian rushed towards Jon, ready to strike him, his fist lashing out, and the next moment, Adrian felt as if his hand was sinking into molten lava. His flesh, his very bones felt like they were on fire, the pain shooting up his arm, and he yanked his fist back. He had expected his hand to be charred to the bone, fingers bending like crippled talons, just like in the pictures of the people who had been unfortunate enough to be at the event horizon of the explosions, where the energy didn't disintegrate their bodies, but rather burned them, turned them into charred husks. But his hand was fine, the skin not even reddened.

“Stop this, Adrian. You know that it is no use.” Jon gave him a smile, sad and knowing and full of pity, and vanished, leaving Adrian alone.

He was completely, utterly alone. Dan and Laurie were somewhere in this building, or maybe they were miles away, in another world entirely. It did not matter. He was alone, trapped in this world of fear, horror and pain. Slowly, Adrian let himself sink to the floor, until he was sitting on the iron grating, fire underneath him and rusted metal at his back. There was no door, no ladder, no hatch to climb through. No way out but one.

Adrian regarded the gun in his hand with an almost curious detachment. He had never liked guns, or weapons of any kind, seeing them as things that created more problems than they solved. And here he was, with one of them as the only solution to the dilemma he faced. Oh, of course, he could sit and wait and hope that at some point, someone would come along and rescue him. But that would be silly, pathetic and most of all futile. Adrian Veidt was the smartest man in the world, and as such, he knew when he had been beaten.

A shot through the head, right though the brainstem, and this would be over in a second. Leaning his head back, Adrian closed his eyes and raised the gun to his mouth.

There was a scraping noise from the opposite corner of the room.

Adrian opened one eye, and was not at all surprised to see Eddie standing there. Covered in blood, his head encased in that hideous metal pyramid, but still unmistakably Eddie.

“Have you come to gloat?” Adrian's voice held a measure of cynicism, but mostly, he just sounded tired, even to his own ears. “Or do you want to finish me off yourself? Take revenge for me throwing you out of the window back then? I'm not sorry for that, you know. I'm sorry for a lot of things that were necessary, but not for that. You got what you deserved.”

Adrian's mouth twitched into a small smile, and he put the gun down and spread his hands: “Come on, then. There's nothing you can do to me that is worse than what you already did.”

At that, the creature that had once been Edward Blake began to lurch forward, dragging its impossibly huge sword, its tip scraping over the metal floor and causing it to trail little sparks. Its feet were almost touching Adrian's before it stopped, and took a moment to stare at him.

With a loud, hollow clank, the sword dropped to the ground. Raising his hands, Eddie pulled off the iron mask, finally revealing his face, and for a moment, Adrian recoiled. Eddie's face and scalp had been almost ripped to shreds, slivers of white bone shining through the mass of bloodied,torn flesh. One of his eyes was missing, but the other regarded Adrian with a terrible pity.

“Everyone must pay a price, Adrian.”

It was the last thing Adrian heard before his world turned black, his own screams and moans echoing back endlessly from the spiked iron encasing his head.


End file.
